Margin-warning mechanism for typewriters



Dec. 28,l926. y 1,612,369

. c. H. GILL MARGIN WARNING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Feb. 4, 1924Y ,J7'22/351 i07 l atented Dec. 28, 1926.

Uhll'l'E STATES tenses Parent car es,

COMEANY, OF NEW YflPt-K,v 1.,

A conrona'rron or DELAWARE.

MAEGIN-NARNING; M'ECHAITISM FGR TYPEYVRITERS.

Application filed February My invention relates to means forautomatically and silently Warning the operator when a line oftypewriting is almost complete and to give such warning at the momentwhen the operator has just finisher the writing of a word upon saidline, so that the operator can determine upon the advisability ofwriting another word upon said line or of carrying said word over to thenext following line. In other words, my invention provides means forlocking the spacing bar orkey of a typewriter against operation at thefirst attempt when the carriage of the typewriter is in such positionrelative to the margin stop mechanism that less than a given number ofcharacters may be written upon the same line before the said margin stopmechanism be comes operative to stop the further travel of the carriage.That is, if my mechanism is constructed or adjusted to permit the freeoperation of the spacing bar or key only when six or more characters maystill be printed upon the line, and if a word were completed at a pointleaving room for only five more characters, for instance, when theoperator attempts to space preparatory to writing a new word, he findsthat the spacer key will not operate. Thus, he is appraised of thesituation. If the word to be started is one containing in excess of fourletters (that being the number of character spaces left on the lineafter the spacer is operated) I he will begin a new line with that word.If the word contains four letters or less, he will again strike thespacer key, which will then operate, and will write the word beforebeginning a new line.

The advantage of this method of giving warning over the usual employmentof a bell that rings at a given number of spaces from the end of a lineis that the warning is always given at the end of a word and not, asinthe case of the fixed warning, sometimes in the middle of a word orjust after starting a long word. It also elimi-' nates the objectionablenoise of the bell.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide means operating inconjunction with existing margin stop mechanism for locking the spacerkey or bar against effective movement when an initial attempt is made tooperate said key or bar within a given number of spaces of the end ofline as determined by the setting of the 4, 1924. Serial NO. 690,534.

regular margin stop; second, to provide means for unlocking the saidspacer key or bar after one attempt to operate the same has been made,so that a second effort to so operate it will be effective; and, third,to provide means for automatically unlocking the said spacer key or barwhen a new line is started in the event that no attempt is made tooperate the same upon the same line after it becomes locked I attainthese objects and others as may hereinafter appear by means ofthemechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which 1 Figure I isa sectional elevation of a portion of a typewriter embodyinginy inventon; FigureQ is a fragmentary detail showingthe spacer bar in lockedposition; and Figure 3 is a detail sectional view of the locking rodhaving the said rod broken away and the rocking arms brought closertogether to conserve space in the drawing.

Similar numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views.

11 designates a portion of the movable carriage and 12 a pointer carriedby the said carriage 11 and adapted to indicate graduations upon a scaleplate 13 secured upon the frame 1 1 of the machine.

"'It is thought unnecessary toillustrate or describe indetail the marginstop actuating mechanism, since this forms no part of my invention andis well known to those versed in the art. For the puposes of this theclosure, it is deemed suflicient to indcate the cam actuating member 15upon the carriage 11 and the cam part 16 pivotally carried upon the rod17 secured in the frame 1 1. The cam part 16 is movable longitudinallyof and upon the rod 17 and provided with means for securing it to atilting member 18 which is also pivoted upon the rod 11'. A lever 19 issecured to or made integral with the tilting member 18 in such mannerthat the lever 19 is 'moved gradually to the position indicated inbroken lines in Figure l as'thecarriage 11 carries the cam actuatingmember 15 along the cam part 16 and thus tilts the tilting member 18. itkc locking means is provided, forming no part of my present invention,and consisting of a rod 20 secured to arms 21 pivoted to the frame 14-at their opposite ends to permit of a rocking motion of the rod 20. henthe lever 19 is swung over to the position indicated by broken lines inFigure 1, it throws the rod 20, through the rocking motion of the arms21, into position to engage hook members 22 secured upon or formingparts of key levers 23 which are pivotally mounted in the frame 14. Aspiral spring 24 is secured to the frame 14 and to one of the arms 21 insuch manner as to so urge the arms 21 and rod 20 as to normally hold therod 20 out of engagement with the hook members 22.

My present invention consists in providing arms 25 pivoted by means ofpins 26 to the frame 14, one at each side of said frame, and connectedby a rod 27, the arrangement being for rocking motion of the arms 25 androd 2 The lever 19 is provided with a trigger 28 pivoted upon the lever19 by a pin 29 so that the lower portion of the trig ger 28 (which iswider and heavier than the upper portion of trigger 28) extends belowthe lower end of the lever 19. A pin 30 in the lever 1.9 prevents thetrigger 28 from swinging in one direction and gravity normally retainsthe trigger 28 in the position shown in Figure 2. In normal position therod 27 lies in the pathway of the trigger 28 and is adapted to be urgedover to the position indicated by the broken lines in Figure 1 by thelever 19 somewhat before that lever 19 has moved sufiiciently to engagethe rod 20 with the hook members 22. In the position shown in Figure 3,the arms 25 have been urged. forwardly to vertical position against theresistance of the spiral springs 31. in this position, the rod 27 is inthe pathway of a projecting part 32 of the spacer lever 33 of thetypewriter and will be engaged by the proj ecting part 32 before thespacer bar 33 can be moved downwardly enough to operate the spacingmechanism with which it is adapted to be operatively connected. Neitherthe spacing mechanism nor the connection between same and the spacer barare illustrated as these are well known constructions and form no partof my present invention. It is thought to be suflicient to illustrate aspacing key 34 upon a spacing lever 33 pivoted upon the frame 14 bymeans of pins 35 and held in normal position by springs 36, and to statethat downward movement of the spacing lever 33 may be utilized toactuate a spacing mechanism or escapement.

When the projecting part 32 of the spac ing lever 33 bears against therod 27 in the downward movement of the spacing lever 33 the rod 27 andarms 25 are forced downwardly against the resistance of the springs 31,this downward 11'10V6111G11t being permitted by slots 37 in the arms 25.through which slots 37 the arms 25 are pivoted by the pins 26 upon theframe 14, thus stopping the downward movement of the spacing lever 33when the pins 26 contact with the upper ends of the slots 37 and beforesuch movement has become suflicient to actuate the escapement mechanism.Nhen pressure is removed from the spacer key 34 and the spacing lever 33is allowed to be returned toward its normal position by the urge of thesprings 36, the springs 31 will throw the arms 25 and rod 2'? back totheir normal position as shown in full lines in Figure 1 and in brokenlines in Figure 2. Should the spacer key 34 be pressed again thereafter,the spacing lever 33 will be free to move clownwardly sufiiciently toactuate the escapement mechanism. in order that the lever 19 may passthe rod 2? upon the return of the lever 19 to its normal position, thetrigger 23 is adapted to trip and permit such returi'i.

Pins 38 in the frame 14 -t as stops to limit the swing of the arms inone di '81-- tic-n and pins 39 in the frame 14 acts as stops to limitthe swing of the arms 25 in the opposite direction.

in operation, the lever 19 is thrown forward gradually as the carriageof the type writer approaches the position that is to bring an end tothe writing line, the lever 19 being moved. by the well understoodcamniing action between the parts 15 and 16 and the consequent rockingof the rocker or tilting member 18. l i hen thelever 19 has movedforward a short distance thetrigger 23 contacts with the rod 27 andfurther forward movement of the lever 19 thus rocks the arms 25 on theirpivoting pins 26 ving with them the rod 27. lVhen the c iriage 11 hasmoved to within a predetermined number of spaces of the termination ofthe writing line. or of the point where the dinary line lockingmechanism becomes fective, the lever 19 will have swung forwardly to adegree suliicient to have carried the rod 27 to a position in the pathof the projecting portion 32 of the spacing lever 33 so that any attemptto operate the spacing lever 33, through the spacing key will cause theprojecting portion 32 to centers with the rod 2?. The spacing lever 33it i then be free to swing downwardlyby pr ing the rod 2'? and arms 25downwar against the resistance of the springs 31. V The slots 37 in thearms 25 permit this down ward sliding movement of the arms on thepivoting ins 26. When the upper ends lit of the slots 3'? contact withthe pivoting pins 26 no further downward movement of the and rod 27 arepermitted and the operator more than a small part of its ordinarymovement will apprise the operator that it is locked against effectiveoperation.

/Vhen the pressure of the operator on the spacing key 3 tis discontinuedthe spacing lever 33 will be returned to its normal position by thespring 36 and, as the rod 27 is then below the reach of the trigger 28,the arms will be swung backwardly and drawn upwardly by the spring 31 toabut against the stop pins 38. A second pressure on the spacing key 3 1will now freely operate the spacing lever 33 and the escapen'ientmechanism until the regular line locking mechanism is brought intoaction by the further forward swing of the lever 19 carrying the rod 20to such position as to engage the rod 20 with the hooks 22 for lockingthe printing keys.

lVhen the carriage is returned to begin a new line of writing, thecamming action of the parts 15 and 16 ceases and the lever 19 is drawnback to its normal position, as shown in full line in Figure 1, by theaction of the spiral spring 10 secured to the lever 19 and to the frame14. The trigger 28 is adapted to pass the rod 27 as the lever 19 movesto its normal position because of the trigger 28 being hingedly mountedon the lever 19.

Because of the length of the projecting portion 32 of the spacing lever33, any first attempt to effectively operate the spacing lever from thetime the rod 27 first comes within the path of the portion 32 to thetime that the regular line stop mechanism becomes effective will beprevented by the rod 27 and any second attempt to effectively operatethe spacing lever 33 will be suc cessful.

It will be evident that numerous departures from the preciseconstruct-ion illustrate and described herein are possible withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention and I, therefore, do not limitthe scope of my invention to the particular construction described, theonly limits placed upon its scope being those imposed by the .followingclaims and by the prior state of the art.

I claim:

1. In margin warning mechanism for typewriters, the combination of aspacing lever, a carriage, a multiplicity of type levers, and lockingmechanisms operative successively for first rendering said spacing leverineffective to feed the carriage, then effective to feed the carriageand prevent the operation of said type levers.

2. In a margin warning mechanism for typewriters, the combination of aspacing lever, a multiplicity of type levers, a letter feeding carriage,and locking mechanisms operative sucessively for'first rendering saidspacing lever ineffective to feed the carriage without affecting theoperation of said type levers, then effective to feed the carriage andto prevent the operation said type le'vr 3. In margin warning mechanismfor typewriters the combination of a spacing lever, a multiplicity oftype levers, locking mechanism adapted to render said spacing leverinoperative without affecting the oper ation of said type levers, andmeans actuated by one operative action of said locking mechanism forrendering said locking mechanism inoperative.

4. In margin warning mechanism for typewriters the combination ot aspacing lever, a multiplicity of type levers, a movable carriage,locking mechanism adapted to render said spacing lever inoperative without affecting the operation of said type levers, means adapting aportion of the move-. ment of saidcarriage in one direction to renderoperative the said locking mechanism. and means actuated by oneoperative action of said locking mechanism for rendering said lockingmechanism inoperative.

5. In margin warning mechanism for typewriters the combination of aspacing lever, a multiplicity oftype levers, a mov able carriage,locking mechanism adapted to render said spacing lever inoperativewithout affecting the operation of said type levers, means adapting aportion of the movement of said carriage in one direction to renderoperative the said locking mechanism, and means actuated by oneoperative action of said locking mechanism for rendering said lockingmechanism inoperative during the continued movement of the said carriagein the said one direction.

6. In margin warning mechanism for typewriters the combination of adetent adapted to be moved into operative position by a portion of themovement in one direction of a typewriter carriage while the saidcarriage is yet some distance from the limit of movement of saidcarriage in said direction, a spacing lever adapted to contact with saiddetent whenever said spacing lever is operated while said detent is inoperative position so that said spacing lever shall then be inoperativefor spacing, and means for rendering said detent inoperative and saidspacing lever operative after one operation of said detent during anyone travel of said carriage in said one direction.

7. In margin warning mechanism for typewriters the combination of aspacing lever, a movable carriage, line stop mechanism adapted to lockthe said carriage against movement beyond an adjustable limit in onedirection, locking means actuated by movement of said carriage andadapted to lock the said spacing lever against operative movementwhenever the said carriage travels to within a predetermined distance ofthe limit of movement of said carriage in one direction, and

automatic means actuated by the inoperative movement of said spacinglever for rendering the said locking means inoperative to lock the saidspacing lever against a following effort to operate said s1 acing lever.

8, The combination with a typewriting machine having a letter-feedingcarriage, a spacing key therefore, and type-operating keys, of means forlimiting an initial depression of said spacing key sufiiciently toprevent actuation of the letter-feeding mechanism of the carriage aftercompletion of a Word Within a predetermined typing zone near the end ofthe carriage-travel, said limiting means becoming inefi ective uponrelease of the spacing key, so that upon subsequent depression or saidspacing key, the carriage may be further letter-spaced and additionaltyping added to the line.

9. The combination with a typewriting machine having a letter-feedingcarriage, a spacing key therefor, type-operating keys, and locking meanstherefor, of means for limiting an initial depression of said spacingkey sufliciently to prevent actuation oi"- the letter-feeding mechanismof the carriage after completion of Word Within a predetermined typingzone near the end of the carriage-travel, said limiting means hecoin- Uing ineti'ect-ive upon release of the spacing key, so that upon asubsequent depression of said spacing key, the carriage may he furtherletter-spaced and additionai typing added to the line, means foroperating said limiting means, said operating means being also effectiveto cause said locking means to lock the type-operating keys as thecarriage reaches the end of its travel.

10.1n margin Warning mechanism for typewriters, the combination of aspacing lover, a multiplicity ot' type levers, a letter feedingcarriage, and lot-king mechanisms operative sncessively for firstrendering said spacing iever ineffective to feed the carriage Withoutaii'ecting the operation of said type levers, than effective to feed thecarriage and to prevent the operation of said type levers, the letterfeeding movement 01 the carriage causing said iocking mechanisms to iockthe spacing lever when said carriage rescues a predetermined pointad1acent the end oi its travel.

